CONVERSD(8)

NAME
conversd - Ping-Pong conversd for wampes

SYNOPSIS

conversd
    the main program

This is the Ping-Pong conversd, derived from WAMPES' conversd by Dieter Deyke <deyke@mdddhd.fc.hp.com>. It is also used in the Internet for ham radio conversation groups.

Newer releases of this software might be found in the anonymous ftp directory at insu1.etec.uni-karlsruhe.de ~/pub/hamradio/convers/convers.

The "standard" TCP-Port to be used with conversd is 3600, the belonging names associated to a standard convers follow. As set up at version 2.94 conversd under LinuX machines will support FSSTND compatible setups. Please note the directory changes if you are using a current release.
/usr/local/sbin/conversd [/tcp/conversd]
    This is the daemon itself
/usr/local/etc/convers.conf [/tcp/convers.conf]
    configuration file
/usr/local/bin/convers
    The user interface to conversd
/usr/local/bin/online
    shows current users without logging in into convers
/usr/local/bin/cstat
    shows current connect status
/usr/local/spool/convers/sockets/convers [/tcp/sockets/convers]
    unix domain socket
/tcp/.sockets/netcmd
    used with WAMPES-connections
/usr/local/spool/convers/convers.log [/tcp/convers.log]
    convers logins are logged here
/usr/local/etc/convers.motd [/tcp/convers.motd]
    motto of the day is displayed at user login
/usr/local/etc/convers.issue [/tcp/convers.issue]
    general text. Displayed at connect time
~/.conversrc
    user's personal file of startup commands
There are some secondary names to conversd implemented for special purposes into my package. You don't need to install them they just provide additional ports for internal converse groups. PLEASE: DO NOT connect the Internet convers to the Packet convers. This is NOT ALLOWED in Germany yet. License conditions are about to change hopefully next year. If you have the ability to join multiple conversation groups, just set up a secondary conversd type (lconvers, kaconvers, wconvers or whatsoever). Then another TCP port is selected for this conversd. Here is a typical convers.conf file for an ampr-net host:

-----
dc6iq-u 12345
# This is just a comment
dc1ik-u 1 1 dc1ik-u:3600
db0sao 2 1 unix:/tcp/.sockets/netcmd connect tcp db0sao 3600
db0me 3 1 unix:/tcp/.sockets/netcmd connect ax25 db0me
-----
The first line sets up your host name (dc6iq-u in this case), the sysop secret number and the conversd net embedding (i.e. internet or amprnet - the latter being default), the second is a comment (possible comment lines start with either ';' or '#', nobody guessed it ?), line number three tells our conversd to connect db0sao on port number 3600 for its conversd. The two conversd's establish a link between each other and then swap user information. It is done via direct kernel TCP/IP - not using WAMPES. Line number four does the same to dc1ik-u, but uses a TCP connection established by WAMPES. The last line does the same to db0me, but instead of a TCP/IP connect a simple AX.25 connection is established to db0me (It's not an IP-Host :-)). Each host entry has an two numbers behind it's supposed name. They are called "group" and "quality". Each group will have exactly one connection to be set up. If a connection goes down the next hosts of this group will be tried. In this manner, an alternative Host might be connected, if a known route either doesn't work any more or is temporarily out of order. The quality parameter tells us how many retries should be performed before switching to the next group member. This Feature is not yet implemented. These Numbers are just place holders for later versions of pp-conversd. Ensure different groups for each entry right now. Set all qualities to 1.
DONT TRY OUT THIS FEATURE YET ! WARNING: First, this Feature is not yet implemented already. Second, if it will be up and running (look for announcement here) NEVER set up link table entries on both sides of a link. This may cause heavy traffic to the net when link loops are being established. More:
THE WHOLE REST OF THE NET WILL BE INOPERATIVE FOR A LONG TIME !!!
Here is a typical convers.conf file for the internet

-----
myname 12345 internet
# who to connect ?
testsite 1 1 foo.bar.org:2354
-----
Here the internet site foo.bar.org on TCP port 2354 is connected. Please _note_ the KEYWORD "internet" after your host name! It is needed, because /pers won't work properly if omitted... WARNING: DO NOT connect two nodes on the same net. This will produce horrible traffic and endless Loops. Even do not do this with Dieter Deykes conversd implementation, if you join a net of non-Dieters converses. This manual should help you to set up your conversd. Additional information and questions concerning this implementation of the conversd should be sent to:
<dc6iq@insu1.etec.uni-karlsruhe.de>    (Internet)
<DC6IQ@DB0SAO.#BW.DEU.EU>      (Packet AX.25-BBS)
<dc6iq@db0sao.ampr.org>           (Packet TCP/IP)
73's, Fred Baumgarten

SEE ALSO
convers(1), online(1), cstat(1)

AUTHORS
The Ping-Pong convers package was written by Fred Baumgarten (dc6iq@insu1.etec.uni-karlsruhe.de). Convert.c was written by Thomas Osterried (dl9sau@fub46.zedat.fu-berlin.de). Manual page by Michael Meifert (mime@dk3hg.hanse.de).